Brainstorm 250: Basketball, Maps, and Codebreakers, 3 Nonfiction/Fiction Reading Pairs

For today’s Brainstorm I have 3 sets of nonfiction & fiction books that can be read together for an even richer experience. Click on the titles to see my full reviews including any content notes/trigger warnings.

B is for Baller: the Ultimate Basketball Alphabet by James Littlejohn, ill. by Matthew Shipley

An alphabet book for little basketball superfans of NBA basketball greats current and historic (as of fall of 2018) that references basketball slang and historic basketball moments.

Goodnight Basketball by Michael Dahl, ill. by Udayana Lugo

A little basketball fan gets to go cheer on his favorite team in person and has great fun at the game before coming home to bed.

Target Readers:

Basketball Players, Basketball Fans, Picture Book Readers

 

The Great New York Subway Map by Emiliano Ponzi

The story of how a group of graphic designers headed by Massimo Vignelli remade the New York subway map to make it easier to read and understand.

Mapping Sam by Joyce Hesselberth

Follow Sam the cat on her nightly wanderings around town and learn about different kinds of maps and things that maps can show.

Target Readers:

Kids Learning to read Maps/Charts/Graphs, Kids Interested in Graphic Design, Curious Readers, Picture Book Readers

Code Girls: the True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in WWII: Young Reader’s edition by Liza Mundy, adapted by Laurie Calkhoven

During WWII, as more and more men were going overseas to serve in the armed forces fighting, the US Army and Navy started secretly recruiting women to work as code breakers. This book outlines how the programs started, how the women were covertly recruited, what kind of work they did, what living and working conditions were like for these women, and how some of their lives were changed forever by their wartime jobs.

Cape (The League of Secret Heroes, #1) by Kate Hannigan, ill. by Patrick Spaziante

Josie, Mae, and Akiko were all trying out for the job that involved code breaking when they find themselves suddenly thrown together into a bigger adventure than they pictured. Despite their different backgrounds, the girls all share a love of codes and superheroes, which is good. Because after witnessing a German spy take out a superhero the girls suddenly find themselves with superpowers. They have to figure out how to control their new powers, figure out if they can trust one another with their various secrets and war time heartaches, while also uncovering a German spy ring and rescuing some kidnapped code breakers right on USA soil, all without letting their families know what is going on. (The code breakers mentioned are some of the historic ladies the Code Girls book talks about.)

Target Readers:

Code & Codebreaking Lovers, WWII Story Fans, Superhero Fans (both real and fictional), Math Lovers, History Buffs, Middle Grade Readers